CYCLING'S Jayco Herald Sun Tour threw itself a 60th birthday party with thousands of guests last night - and is looking forward to more of the same.

Fans flocked to the majestic Arthurs Seat lookout on the Mornington Peninsula to watch nearly 100 riders complete the four-day race, held in January for the first time.

Australia's oldest stage race had spent the previous 59 years in October, but the new timeslot is here to stay, according to race director John Trevorrow.

"The consensus from everyone involved is that it has been a wonderful event," said Trevorrow, who won the race three times in the 1970s.

"The racing has been brilliant."

That was despite the riders suffering through a heatwave in which their bike computers register 45C on the road from Sunbury to Bendigo on Friday.

But some of Australia's best international professionals - Simon Gerrans, Stuart O'Grady, Matt Goss, Simon Clarke and Nathan Haas, all riding together under the national team banner - plus an influx of overseas riders and the cream of this country's emerging talent, demonstrated why road cycling is so popular despite its well-documented problems.

The winners of the prologue and the first two stages - Jordan Kerby, 20, Aaron Donnelly, 21, and Luke Davison, 21 - are all new faces on the way up, as was last year's winner, Haas.

"People said these guys wouldn't be able to race at this standard - wow, they've set the standard," Trevorrow said.

He said the four days was too short to be ideal, but was confident it would be one or two days longer next year.

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